Cute pictures of Paige! 11 months old!

Asleep..

Paige is almost two now and is giving up the highchair. But personally, I think it would be great. Look at how comfy it is. People set your food right in front of you and it takes you little to no effort to reach it and it is reclined. She must have been pretty tired to fall asleep during a snack. She loves her food!

Pic was taken on 4/20/12 (one year from yesterday!)

Sew much fun!

I decided to take a sewing class. I made Carter his cute apron during the class. Once it was over I bought some cheap material to practice with, and made Paige a little skirt. I was teaching myself ruffles and so they look kind of crazy, but hey, at least she could wear it! Ha Ha.

Time to play major catch up... Here's Paige at 11 months old! Little squirt!

Paige has always been busy busy busy. She is also my little shadow and doesn't like to be alone. Therefore she was always playing in my drawers.

Auf Wiedersehen

I can't believe this time has finally come. We are moving out of our first home. The movers are coming to tomorrow and will be taking my precious computer with them. I wanted to catch up on our blog before we moved but it didn't happen. So, although it is out of order I wanted to express my feelings about the move while they are fresh on my mind. I will also be starting a new private blog about our adventures in...

Germany!

Yes, that is right. Not only are we moving out of our house, but we are moving to Germany! I never ever thought I would live outside of the country.  I am such a hometown girl. It has taken 2 years of Mark convincing me, but the timing was finally right, and I felt that it was the change I had been praying for. So, ready or not, here we go!

It has been a long process full of a lot of learning but we are finally on our way. Today our first set of movers came. Because of this all being new and some miscommunication, we didn't think they were coming until Friday. Of course that resulted in sheer panic when I opened the door this morning at 9:00 and two movers were standing there.  I wasn't ready! I called Mark and he came home from work. The movers went out for a "soda" to give me a little bit of extra time... needless to say, we got it all together. The only lame thing was that after hours of organizing items into plastic totes they told us the rule was that they can only store belongings into cardboard.

I don't know if my emotions are ready for this move! I think I have only cried about...  5 times. Leaving our house is very bittersweet. We have had so many good memories here. We had our house built and loved picking everything out together. There are so many memories that have filled up our home: First time home owners! First time dog owners,  Painting our babies' rooms! (Painting for the first time), First time parents! Holidays, Having parties! Dealing with trials, Buying furniture to fill up our home! Being home alone while Mark was in school, and so on, and so on... The bittersweet part is that we knew this would be our starter home. We are outgrowing it and ready for a change but leaving something that you have invested so much into isn't easy.

We decided to put our house up for sale but to also get a rental company lined up. We had a bunch of showings (which really sucked since Mark always seemed to be gone and that left me to get the house ready with kids in tow - no fun!) We also had a showing for a cute family that wanted to rent our house. They loved it and immediately went and signed the paperwork when they left. They have a little boy (named Carter!) and a little baby girl. It is perfect since we have a boy room and a girl room! So, we ended up renting it out!

The last week and especially the last few days have been very tiring and exhausting. This is our first time moving with our kids and I tell ya... they have tons of crap! Ha Ha! We have lived here for 6 years so we have accumulated quite a bit more. We also have to decide if the item is going to long term storage in a storage unit, going as unaccompanied baggage on a plane (only necessary items like kitchen needs, towels, clothes), or if it will go over on a boat - which takes at least 2 months. My mind cannot turn off even though I am super tired! Thank goodness for my Mom, Dad, Colby, Cindy, and some friends that have been helping me. Watching my kids, helping me pack, running errands, etc. etc. Thank you!

So that is what we have been up to! Next time I post we will probably be in Germany!

Auf Wiedersehen!

The Party.

I decided when Paige was about 6 months old that I was going to do a cupcake themed party for her 1st birthday. The girl loves her cupcakes! -just like her mama! I got a vision in my head of what I wanted her to wear, and where I wanted her pictures taken, and how I wanted the cupcake table set up. I am happy to say that it turned out just perfect!

We invited our family and close friends and everyone came to support our sweet little Paige. She has so many people that love her! My vision for the cupcake table was to have a huge variety of cupcakes. I made all of them (with some help from Cindy) except for the little ones that I ordered from Vintage Cupcake. My good friend Kelley Howe delivered once again with amazing pictures of Paige. My brother said that it looked like Pinterest threw up, and he is probably right. Most of my ideas came from there. "I love technology.. always and forever..."

Her new wagon from Grandma and Grandpa!

Look how much of her cake she ate! I colored the frosting with strawberries so she wouldn't be eating tons of food dye and so it would taste better of course!

Birthday Girl Pictures!

By the time we got Paige dressed and ready and got to Vintage Cupcake she was getting tired. It made the session a lot more work! I made her tutu. It turned out a lot bigger than I planned but I still loved it. Kelley made her invitations too. I loved how they all turned out!